Layne guilty of grandson's murder

Sandra Layne will most likely spend the rest of her life behind bars after being found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her grandson.

Layne, 75, was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday afternoon. The jury also found her guilty of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony for the May 18 shooting death of Jonathan Hoffman, 17, at their West Bloomfield Township condominium.

“I know that my son is in heaven, and that’s a place that she’ll never see,” said Jennifer Hoffman — Layne’s daughter and Hoffman’s mother.

Jennifer Hoffman said she will no longer keep in touch with her mother and added that she “got what (she) deserved.”

She never referred to Layne as her mother, and when asked what she would call Layne from now on, she said “I would prefer to call her a monster, but that’s it.”

“I’m just glad that she’s put away and she can’t do harm to anyone else,” she said.

“It’s really hard to comprehend that your own mother can do something like this to your own child.”

Jennifer Hoffman said she had planned to return to Michigan on June 8 — just three weeks after the shooting — to help Jonathan complete his probation and prepare for college.

“I miss him,” Jennifer Hoffman said.

Jonathan Hoffman’s father, Michael Hoffman, was also satisfied with the verdict.

“First and foremost, it’s final vindication for my son, to restore his good name and reputation, because over the course of the last nine months, it’s been tarnished in a very cruel manner,” Michael Hoffman said.

“He was a great, great kid. He was a wonderful person — a very spiritual and creative person — and he was cast in such a poor light by an attorney who, I think, was disgustingly unprofessional (and) highly offensive.”

Hoffman said Layne and his son had a “very warm relationship.” He was reluctant to let Jonathan leave the family in Arizona to finish high school here. Jonathan Hoffman’s sister, Jessica, was undergoing treatment at the time for a brain tumor but is doing well now.

“Certainly, I expected her to take care of him in an exemplary fashion, and obviously that was not the case,” he said.

Both parents said they never heard of any major problems from Layne, her husband Fred (who refused to comment to media after the verdict) or Jonathan.

Michael Hoffman said after learning of one incident with Jonathan, he asked Layne to take away the keys to Jonathan’s vehicle.

“She assured me she would, and apparently not only did she not do that, but she bought him Flowmaster mufflers, which, as I understand it, make the car louder and faster, so she defied me,” he said.

“She was always a thorn in my side, to be very honest. She was very difficult, very meddlesome, very controlling, and I never liked her.”

Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota said the Hoffmans were “neglectful.”

“My portrayal of (their) son was based on the facts,” he said.

“They may not like the facts, but they were based on the facts.”

He said Layne was “devastated.”

“I’ve been saying it all along — we can’t do anything that she hasn’t already done to herself,” Sabbota said.

“She punishes herself every day. The legal system did what the legal system does. The jury felt it wasn’t appropriate self-defense. Obviously it wasn’t premeditated, because they found her guilty of second-degree murder.”

Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said Layne’s “story was fanciful,” and he did not believe the shooting was in self-defense.

“She went up (to Hoffman’s bedroom) with the gun,” Walton said.

“She went up there to confront him. She went up there to prevent him from leaving. It’s clear murder, and that’s what the jury found.”

Hoffman, who had violated his probation by testing positive for synthetic marijuana in his urine earlier that day, planned to leave Layne’s home to avoid going to jail.

The key piece of evidence was the 911 call that Hoffman made, Walton said.

“It clearly shows a young man — 17 years old — who is dying, begging for help,” he said.

“He is describing, second by second, what is happening to him. That, coupled with the review of the physical evidence in this case and also the defendant’s testimony shows that this was an execution.”

The sentencing guidelines for Layne begin at about 12 years for the second-degree murder charge, along with a mandatory two-year sentence on the felony firearm charge. She will be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 18.